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Art of the accordion still flourishes at former West Side nightclub

‘El Maestro’ Bene Medina teaches accordion to people of all ages

SAN ANTONIO – The familiar sound of the time-honored accordion can still be heard at Lerma’s, the iconic former West Side nightclub that became an historic landmark.

Part of the building is now a classroom of sorts used by Conjunto Heritage Taller, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the art of accordion playing, as well as the bajo sexto.

Conjunto Heritage Taller offers low-cost classes to students of all ages.

One of its instructors is “El Maestro” himself, Bene Medina, who is considered the dean of accordion music.

Among his many honors and recognitions, Medina was inducted into the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame in 2008, and he’s been nominated for a National Heritage Award.

“We’ve done pretty good, gracias a Dios,” Medina said.

At age 84, Medina radiates a youthful smile as he does what he does best, to the amazement of his students.

Like Medina, many of his students started playing when they were still very young by watching and listening to others.

Fern Lozano was only five years old when he first picked up an accordion.

“I was more of a self-learner,” Lozano said.

He said Medina has helped refine what he’s learned up to now.

Lozano said it’s meant a lot to have Medina at his side with that level of knowledge and history.

Oscar Cantua joined El Maestro’s class as a novice earlier this summer. But, he said it wasn’t until he went on Google that he discovered his instructor was “a big deal.”

“It’s incredibly humbling,” Cantua said.

He said accordion music helps connect him with his cultural roots.

“I still remember songs and I’m like, wait, how do I even know that song? You just been hearing it your whole life?” Cantua said.

Lozano said, “It’s keeping the legacy alive for conjunto music because San Antonio and all of Texas are known for conjunto, Tejano and Norteno.”

But Jaime Guevara, a musician in Houston, has given those genres a new twist by merging them with popular songs in English.

“I just listen to a song, then I think, oh, that would probably sound good in a cumbia or that probably sound good in Norteno,” Guevara said.

He said his new genre has gone viral, getting nods from the original artists, like Anderson .Paak of Silk Sonic.

“I went to check on his Instagram and he did share it,” Guevara said. “I was jumping up and down.”

Guevara’s music is now helping to introduce a new generation on social media to the versatility of the accordion, and why for some like Fern Lozano, “This is kind of like my passion.”


About the Authors
Priscilla Carraman headshot

Priscilla Carraman is Manager of Content and Coverage at KSAT. She moved into the role after seven years of producing. She was the producer of the "Know My Neighborhood" series — hyperlocal reporting on different neighborhoods in the area. Priscilla started at KSAT as a producer trainee in 2017 after graduating from UTSA.

Gavin Nesbitt headshot

Gavin Nesbitt is an award-winning photojournalist and video editor who joined KSAT in September 2021. He won a Lone Star Emmy, a Regional Murrow, a Texas Broadcast News Award, a Headliners Foundation Silver Showcase Award and 2 Telly Awards for his work covering the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

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